The archive · Hardware & Devices · Strategic decision · 2020–2024
Superpedestrian's Link scooter bet ends: $125M raised, then 20,000 scooters auctioned
Raised $125M in 2022 to win shared scooters with software; shut US fleets Dec 31, 2023 and auctioned 20,000 Link scooters in January 2024.
Superpedestrian
What the business is
Operated the Link shared e-scooter brand, running fleets in 60+ cities across 11 countries and differentiating with diagnostic and pedestrian-safety software.
Starting capital：$125M Series C (2022)
How it started
Superpedestrian initially got into the shared scooter business — the Link brand — in 2020, when it acquired substantially all of the assets of Boston-based Zagster, part of a wave of consolidation during the COVID-19 pandemic. It bet that fleets with self-diagnostic software and a pedestrian-safety system could win permits and riders against rivals like Bird and Tier.
What happened
Eighteen months before the shutdown, Superpedestrian raised $125M in a Series C round of equity and debt from investors including Jefferies, Antara Capital, the Sony Innovation Fund, FM Capital, Spark Capital, General Catalyst, and Citi. It still laid off staff months after the round, pulled out of Chicago in September 2023 citing competitive difficulties, and ended 2023 with more layoffs. Fresh funding and a potential merger looked close as recently as November 2023, but the talks fell apart.
How it ended up
On December 15, 2023, staff were told U.S. operations would shut down at year-end and European assets would be offered for sale; workers spent the final two weeks retrieving scooters from cities before facilities locked for the last time on December 31. Two online auctions then sold more than 20,000 scooters and other equipment from cities including Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York, with the first auction opening January 23, 2024.
Background
Superpedestrian was an e-scooter startup that ran fleets under the Link brand in 60-plus cities across 11 countries. It tried to win on technology rather than price: its scooters ran diagnostic and safety software that could detect problems and correct unsafe riding such as sidewalk use in real time.
The company entered shared scooters in 2020 by acquiring substantially all of Zagster's assets during the COVID wave of consolidation, then doubled down on software by buying Navmatic in July 2021. Eighteen months before the shutdown it raised a $125M round of equity and debt from investors including Jefferies, Antara Capital, Sony Innovation Fund, FM Capital, Spark Capital, General Catalyst, and Citi.
The money did not fix the business. Superpedestrian laid people off months after the round, withdrew from Chicago in September 2023 citing competition, and held fresh funding and merger talks that fell apart by late 2023. On December 15, 2023, staff were told U.S. operations would close December 31 and European assets would be offered for sale.
Employees spent the final two weeks retrieving scooters across the country; facilities locked for the last time on December 31. In January 2024, more than 20,000 scooters and equipment from Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, and other cities went to online auctions. The collapse came days before Bird, another former scooter leader, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
What has to be true
- City-permit economics made shared scooters hard to run profitably, and the fleet business kept needing capital even after a $125M round.
- Superpedestrian's differentiator was software, but riders choose scooters by availability and price, so safety technology did not command premium unit economics.
- When 2023 funding and merger talks collapsed there was no backstop: 20,000 scooters were worth more sold at auction than as a continuing business.
What can be applied
A $125M cushion and software edge don't fix fleet economics: when city-permit costs and per-ride math stay unprofitable, the round only postpones the shutdown — and the hardware gets auctioned off.
Aftermath
As of early 2024 the company was effectively gone: U.S. facilities closed December 31, 2023, and two online auctions in January 2024 sold more than 20,000 scooters and remaining equipment. Superpedestrian said it would explore a sale of its European business, but its status was unclear and CEO Assaf Biderman did not respond to requests for comment. Days after the shutdown, former scooter leader Bird filed for Chapter 11, underscoring how the sector's economics had broken.
Sources
- Scooter startup Superpedestrian shutting down US operations, exploring sale of Europe business
- Superpedestrian to auction 20,000 e-scooters after shutting down
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